Tag: Rapture

The eighth chapter of Tom Bissell’s Extra Lives reminded me that video games have a remarkable potential for ruthlessness. Or, rather, it reminded me what video games can force (or allow) the player to do. Of course this is something people have written about before: from the very genesis (no pun intended) of video games, moral guardians have questioned the violent nature of “the collision and disappearance of two blocky abstractions (Bissell, page 130).” This has evolved into heated arguments over the ethics of crime-related series such as Grand Theft Auto and Saints Row, or violent games such as Mortal Kombat, Gears of War, or Call of Duty.… Read the rest

For those of you who don’t know, I absolutely loveBioshock. It is my only favorite game. I’ve played several other games which I have enjoyed, but inevitably they all get compared to Bioshock in my mind. Even Bioshock 2 couldn’t escape this comparison. So, naturally when I saw William Gibbons article entitled: “Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams: Popular Music, Narrative, and Dystopia in Bioshock” I ate that jank up. Not only am I an avid fan of the game, but even before I played it I was a fan of jazz and music from earlier generations. Bobby Darian, Bing Crosby, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford: these are all personal heros of mine.… Read the rest